EXCLUSIVE: The Mayor of Tower Hamlets will release unedited video footage of his interview with BBC Panorama’s John Ware, a spokesman has confirmed.

Monday’s Panorama featured clips of an interview with Mayor Lutfur Rahman, which he claims were edited unfairly to make him look bad.

The mayor was joined during the filming of the interview by his media advisor and his own cameraman, who took separate footage of the confrontation.

A spokesman for the mayor’s office said they will release their video of the interview to the public “at the appropriate time”.

The full interview is believed to have lasted for around an hour.

The programme on March 31 accused Mayor Lutfur Rahman of using public money to promote himself and secure his re-election in May.

Local government secretary Eric Pickles has said he may appoint an inspector over the programme’s “serious allegations” about how Tower Hamlets Council is run.

The Mayor has branded the programme “racist and Islamophobic” and accused it of political bias in breach of BBC editorial guidelines.

The BBC strongly rejected the charge of racism and said it stood by the accuracy of its report.

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